Najib brands Dr M as a dictator on Facebook

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Razak has hit out against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, calling him a dictator who has no right labelling others as such.

Najib said Dr Mahathir should not be calling others a dictator when he himself was oppressive during his two tenures as prime minister in a post on his Facebook on Sunday (March 20)

"Who was the one who enforced the Internal Security Act (ISA) and changed the country's Attorney General, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief and Chief Justice for his own benefit?" he asked.

Najib also pointed out a number of alleged injustices which the former premier faced under Dr Mahathir's administration, claiming a person could only be called a "dictator" when he has oppressed people.

"(It was Dr Mahathir) who prohibited my family from leaving the country before any charges were concluded, (it was he) who froze our family's bank accounts," he said.

Meanwhile, former lawmaker Kasthuri Patto echoed the sentiment against Dr Mahathir claiming he had no moral authority to label Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a dictator.

Kasthuri, who is the daughter of an Ops Lalang detainee, recalled how her late father was detained under the now-defunct ISA during the infamous operation in 1987 when Dr Mahathir served his first tenure as prime minister.

"You detained them for months, years and decades using the draconian ISA, while never allowing them to be tried in court. It was an iron-fisted rule.

"Please don't be a wedge between patriotic Malaysians in nation-building as we need progressive and visionary leaders," she said in a statement.

On Sunday (March 20), Dr Mahathir had denounced Anwar as an oppressive leader after his plan to hold a pro-Malay gathering failed to materialise.